Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and Democratic challenger Ryan Busse met in Missoula Wednesday for a one-hour debate, the only forum the two major-party gubernatorial candidates have agreed to share before the Nov. 5 election.
The debate, hosted by regional news network NonStop Local, was livestreamed on the outlet’s website and is scheduled to broadcast Thursday on Montana PBS at 7 p.m and Sunday on NonStop Local at 9 a.m. It came after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations for two other October debate appearances proposed by Montana Television Network, Lee newspapers, Montana PBS and Montana Public Radio — invitations Gianforte declined and Busse accepted.
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kaiser Leib was not invited to participate in Wednesday’s event.
The contest between Gianforte and Busse has so far pulled in millions of dollars in campaign contributions for each candidate. Recent polling shows a more than 20-point gap in the Republican incumbent’s favor. With less than three weeks until the election, the two leading contenders have not announced other plans to debate.
Questions from moderators Ben Wineman, Bradley Warren and Mike Dennison ranged from housing affordability and property taxes to abortion access, climate change, childcare, public lands and education. Across those topics, Gianforte repeatedly framed Montana as a place where “the American Dream is alive and well,” touting his efforts to increase housing development, boost job creation and cut regulations since he took office in January 2021.
“I was recently in Big Timber and I met a young woman there who, right out of high school at 18, went to work for a local machine shop,” Gianforte recounted. “At 22, just last year, she bought her first home. This just shows you, when you combine the Montana work ethic with opportunity, you can prosper here in this state,” Gianforte said.
Alternatively, Busse sought to cast Gianforte’s administration as out of touch with the challenges facing middle- and low-income Montanans, using most of his speaking opportunities to criticize the Republican’s first-term record.
“I want to ask the folks at home. Do you feel like you’re living through a Montana miracle when you have to have three jobs to own a home? When your rent has gone up so much you can’t afford to live in the place that you want to work in and raise your kids in? Does that feel like a miracle to you?” Busse said. “It doesn’t feel like a miracle to me.”
In response to repeated questions about Montana’s housing affordability crisis, Gianforte referenced policies from his first term intended to spur development and increase the supply of housing, while acknowledging there is “more work to do” to relieve cost-of-living strains. The governor specifically highlighted his support for a “homestead exemption,” a property tax policy that would increase the residential tax rate on second homes and short-term rentals, one of the proposals recommended by a property tax task force Gianforte convened over the last year.
Busse advocated for lowering the property tax rate to 2022 levels, a step he criticized Gianforte for not taking before the most recent appraisal cycle. The Democrat also said he would support growing Montana’s unionized labor workforce to build more housing and approve the use of state housing tax credits to increase the supply of affordable units.
The candidates also discussed their views on abortion and Montana’s proposed Constitutional Initiative 128, which would insert protections for abortion access in the Montana Constitution.
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Gianforte, a longtime opponent of abortion who has signed multiple restrictive bills into law over the past two legislative sessions, said he would vote against CI-128, describing the initiative as “extreme.” The governor also suggested specific impacts the measure could have on Medicaid funding for abortion and prohibitions on parental notification, policies that are not mentioned in the proposal’s text.
With Republicans facing increased pressure over abortion since the federal overturning of Roe v. Wade, Gianforte’s rhetoric on the issue appeared slightly softer than it has been in his past campaigns and public appearances.
“I ran as a pro-life candidate. I think life is precious and it should be protected. But again, as we legislate and make policy, we have to build consensus around the issues,” Gianforte said. “I think reasonable people can disagree on where you draw the line … CI-128 is too extreme.”
Busse endorsed CI-128 — which his running mate for lieutenant governor, Raph Graybill, helped write — as a backstop against government intervention in private medical decisions. The Democrat also criticized the slate of abortion restrictions Gianforte signed in 2021 and 2023, many of which are currently tied up in court.
“Reasonable people certainly can disagree about whether or not they’re in support of abortion. What we also can agree upon is that a governor should not be in the doctor’s office with women telling them what they can and can’t do. And Gov. Gianforte has time after time gotten in the doctor’s office with women and told them what they can’t do,” Busse said.
The candidates shared mutual endorsements for maintaining public land access for hunting, fishing and recreation. While Gianforte referenced his administration’s efforts to increase access to public land through wildlife management areas and habitat conservation leases, Busse criticized the governor for not supporting public land access through corner-crossing, and for signing a 2021 bill that gave large landowners increased access to special elk permits in exchange for allowing a limited number of public hunters on their property.
As Busse directed repeated criticisms at Gianforte, the governor largely looked down or away from his opponent, occasionally muttering “that’s not true” and shaking his head at the Democrat’s answers. During his responses, Gianforte mostly refrained from directly referencing Busse and began his answers with a smile and an effort to reframe the issue through a positive lens. Busse, alternatively, maintained eye contact with the camera and regularly glanced at Gianforte, often rolling his eyes or sighing in response to the governor’s answers.
Both candidates framed their debate appearance as a success in statements released later Wednesday.
“Today, Governor Greg Gianforte showed he’s the only serious candidate in the race for governor,” Gianforte campaign spokesperson Anna Marian Block said in a Wednesday afternoon email. “After 16 years of Democrat rule, the governor delivered the largest tax cuts and property tax rebates in state history, expanded access to more than 100,000 acres of public lands, secured record-breaking job and wage growth, and much more. Montanans deserve four more years of strong, conservative leadership to address the problems facing Montana.”
Asked how he felt he performed in the Wednesday debate, Busse again criticized the governor in an early evening interview with Montana Free Press.
“I think it’s clear that Gov. Gianforte’s phoning this in. He needed notes. He fumbled around. He used tired excuses,” Busse said. Rather than focusing the debate time on his goals as governor, Busse said he intentionally aimed to litigate the governor’s record. “We’re taking him to the cleaners. And he deserves to be.”
Gianforte’s campaign declined Wednesday to share additional information with MTFP about any election-related events in Missoula before or after the debate. The governor’s administration on Wednesday forecasted plans to continue his third annual 56-county tour of the state and hold press availabilities at local meet-and-greets.
Busse said he plans to continue holding public town halls around the state and other meetings with voters from now until Election Day, with one slated for Wednesday evening in Missoula and another scheduled for Sunday in Butte.
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